I wonder how much the negative reaction to the headlights of the F20 1-series influenced the design of these lights.

None. The only people who have negative reactions to the lights are people on forums, never actually seen the car and outspoken media who a majority have yes, never seen the car in real life.

The F20 1er is actually proving to be as successful if not more so than the
E87. The car was chosen by the BMW board because of its distinctive appearance. I was recently pointed out a new Golf on the streets of Munich but you would never know because it is completely anonyomus.
The 1er is in no way anonyomus.

The F22/F23/F24 are the 2er. The bloodline is there with the 1er but it heads in a more sportier direction than before with different front end and rear end styling to distinguish the 2er from the 1er just as the 4er will be distinctive from the 3er.

The Coupe will be seen shortly as it is heading to Sweden in a truck soon for winter testing.